I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:7 (KJV)

"Arm yourselves, and be ye men of valour, and be in readiness for the conflict; for it is better for us to perish in battle than to look upon the outrage of our nation and our altar. As the Will of God is in Heaven, even so let it be." (1 Maccabees 3:5860)

Rest in Peace, fallen brother, rest in peace! We who remain hold you in high honor. Rest, fallen brother, in this sacred precinct; We who remain keep this place sacred. Rest, fallen brother, among these, your comrades; We who remain keep the watch. Rest, fallen brother, among these who answered the Nations call; We who remain press the fight forward in your name. Rest, fallen brother, lay down thy burden; We who remain have taken up the torch. Rest in Peace, fallen brother, rest in eternal peace!

During a business trip to Philadelphia, I attended an evening service on the Thursday before Eastera service of Communion and Tenebrae (darkness) held in a small chapel lit by candles. Following the bread and the cup, a passage was read aloud from the gospel of John, one candle was extinguished, and we sang a verse from a hymn about Jesus journey to the cross. This was repeated 14 times until the chapel was completely dark. In silence we knelt in prayer and then left one by one without speaking.

The darkness of this type of service can remind us of the dark elements surrounding Jesus death. Think of His last meal with the disciples (John 13:21-30) as He explained that one of them would betray Him. Only Jesus knew it was Judas. Having received the piece of bread, [Judas] then went out immediately. And it was night (v.30).

On the darkest evening of Jesus life, He agonized in prayer in the Garden, faced a wrongful arrest, endured humiliation at the hands of religious leaders, and winced at Peters denials. Yet He moved faithfully toward the cross where He would die for our sins.

Jesus endured darkness and death to give us light and life. Praise Him for what He went through for us!

See, from His head, His hands, His feet,Sorrow and love flow mingled down;Did eer such love and sorrow meet,Or thorns compose so rich a crown? Watts

Calvary reveals the vileness of our sin and the vastness of Gods love.

To every service man or woman reading this thread.Thank You for your service to our country.No matter where you are stationed, No matter what your job descriptionKnow that we are are proud of each and everyone of you.To our military readers, we remain steadfast in keeping the Canteen doors open.

The FR Canteen is Free Republic's longest running daily thread specifically designed to provide entertainment and moral support for the military.The doors have been open since Oct 7 2001, the day of the start of the war in Afghanistan.

We are indebted to you for your sacrifices for our Freedom.

NOTE: CANTEEN MUSICPosted daily and on the Music Thread for the enjoyment of our troops and visitors.

oh Dear child...may Peace and Comfort be with you always.. It is so difficult to lose a dad, I lost mine 40 years ago and he is in my daily memories..may you always remember yours as well.. we were our dads gifts...they are our memories now..God Bless U♥ Carole PA.

Many funny things took place during those Basic Days. We wore rubber overshoes over our combat boots most of the time. On one of the early days, as our Platoon leader was inspecting the troops, he looked at the feet of the soldier on my right, then stepped in front of me, then back to the soldier on my right. The young kid from Monterey, California, had the overshoes on the wrong feet making the angle of the feet look rather peculiar. We went on about a 15-mile march one day and the normal plan was to take a ten-minute break every hour. At our first break this same kid complained about his feet hurting. The sergeant had him take off his boots. It turned out that he was only wearing the overshoes with no boots. He had blisters on both top and bottom of his feet. He did get a ride back to the barracks however.

I was with him when he went Home. I didn't take his wedding ring until then...my Mom wears it now. They "talk" all the time, and my Mom is doing well. They would have been married 70 years in August. And add their high school years....long time.

I left Camp Claiborne, Louisiana on about the 27th of August 1943, by train, on a 14 day Furlough without travel time to get married. (He wasn't yet 21 so his Mom had to sign for him.) After a great Wedding, a Wonderful, but short honeymoon at Big Bear Lake, California, I left her living with her folks in Long Beach, California and returned to Camp Claiborne until approximately the 26th or 27th of December 1943. About 300 of us were shipped, via train, to Camp Shenango, PA, an Overseas Replacement Center.

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